Studies Show Regular Sleep is Integral to Health

Posted on August 03 2012

Lack of sleep has been known to have an adverse affect on our body’s functions. A new research study shows that lack of sleep cannot only make people more susceptible to a variety of illnesses, but it can also contribute to making immunity vaccines ineffective.

This new study researched a variety of adults with a number of sleeping patterns. The focus was on the integrity of the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine, which all participants had within the appropriate manner of time for the study. The results turned out to be on par with the regular effects that lack of sleep has on health and well-being.

The study showed that people who got over 7 hours of sleep maintained the integrity of their hepatitis-B vaccine, while those who slept under 6 hours were less likely to have proper antibodies in their system, meaning significantly less protection.

There have been many sleep studies emerging into headlines over the past few weeks. Recently, one was released regarding the effect of synthetic light (such as nightlights and televisions) on sleeping habits and general health, that determined using synthetic light while sleeping could actually cause depression. Another stated that shift-work caused people to have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

This latest study also pinpoints synthetic light as a sleep disruptor. It was found that synthetic light actually skews the amounts of melatonin that is released during the sleep cycles. When melatonin is withheld, many health problems can arise, including diabetes and cancer.

In a day and age where people work long, hard hours, as well as swing shifts and night shifts, it can be hard to find the right time to sleep. When you add in stress, anxiety, and all of the non-work things we must accomplish, it is no wonder circadian rhythms are so easily, and regularly, thrown off. As most sleep studies are done in the short term, this one in particular followed participants for an elongated period of time.

While more work needs to be done, one thing is for certain: adequate sleep is an important part to leading a healthy life. We all have lots to do throughout the day, and there is never enough time to get everything done. However, with more and more studies illustrating the positive impact regular sleep has on our health, time management and adjustment may turn out to be our best defense in keeping our immune systems healthy.